Alone

In celebration of National Poetry Month, here’s a poem by Owen, a fourth grader in Ms. Rodriguez’s class at Blackshear Elementary. Owen’s poem reminds us of some modernist literature—as he focuses on a feeling of alienation, despite being in a world full of people. He is acutely aware of his surroundings, highlighting details  that are normally overlooked.

The Day I Was Alone

The color of the sand is green, white, and red.
The texture is rough as a shell.
It is shaped like a football field,
as big as New York City,
as tall as the biggest building in the world.
And the thing that says not to pass
to the rock and sand
is cold.
This place feels cold and scary.
And the cars look lonely and haunted.
The light, if you touch it, feels
hot, and it will burn you to death.

Owen, fourth grade, Blackshear Elementary School

The Green Window

Metaphor is the language of life. All the world’s a stage for language to help us understand, to know ourselves. Erik, a fourth grader in Ms. Rodriguez’s class at Blackshear Elementary, shares an enigmatic poem this week, “The Green Window.” His first line, “This is a green window,” is uniquely open for interpretation. What is the “this”? Is he talking about a freshly mown lawn in spring, reflected in the windows of his classroom? Could the green of the window mean new? Could it be alive, like the plants and bluebonnets that sprinkle our landscape these days? The beauty of poetry, and of Erik’s poem, is that you, the reader, get to decide.

This is a green window
on a blue sky
over a house
or a sky
on a house
over a sky.
It is like a reflection of the window.

Erik, fourth grade, Blackshear Elementary School